City Of Tulsa Budget Cuts Could Mean More Layoffs

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The budget crisis for the city of Tulsa deepens by the day.

The latest numbers show the sales tax collections for the last month was 14% lower than it was a year ago. That is a multi-million dollar difference.

It was last Tuesday when the sales tax numbers came out and late Thursday when city of Tulsa department heads were told to plan more cuts and that all options, including layoffs, would be considered.

The new mayor, Dewey Bartlett, is dealing with the old problem of a declining budget to balance out the drop in sales tax income; city hall has to slash spending.

Last Thursday, Mayor Bartlett asked department heads to plan for a $5 or $10 million cut.

Five million dollars citywide would amount to $1.7 million for police, for fire $1.2 million and for public works $600,000.

The mayor's office says Bartlett plans to wait for recommendations from department heads as to how to make the cuts, but layoffs are being considered.

Bartlett's staff says he has not met with the fire or police chiefs, nor has he settled on any particular solution to the budget problem.

The FOP says they have not yet been part of talks about the new round of reductions, but does confirm the first officers to go would be the 18 who were laid off - then rehired with stimulus money.

Because they are still the lowest ranking officers, they and the officers just above them could lose their jobs.

After the last cuts, the Tulsa Police Department budgeted $1.1 million to rehire 18 officers.

A $1.7 million cut could equal as many as 27 officers losing their jobs.